Thursday, August 20, 2015

Scuderia Toro Rosso

Team Score: B-

Max Verstappen: B-

Carlos Sainz Jr: C

Considered a farm team for Red Bull Racing, Scuderia Toro Rosso had recently been the source of both Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat. For 2015, the team's development team roster consists of a pair of young drivers with recognizable motorsport surnames. In car #55 is Carlos Sainz Jr. (son of two-time World Rally Championship title winner Carlos Sainz). Car #33 for Toro Rosso was filled by 17-year-old Max Verstappen. Considered to be a hot future talent at such a young age, the Dutch son of former Formula 1 competitor Jos Verstappen has been watched carefully this season.

Wheeling Toro Rosso cars powered by Renault, Sainz Jr. and Verstappen quickly earned points on the Formula 1 tour. Max Verstappen scored a ninth in his debut in Australia while Carlos Sainz Jr. took his first championship points in seventh spot. While both talented, incidents have reminded observers we are watching rookie drivers. At the Monaco Grand Prix, Max Verstappen's collided with the Lotus of Romain Grosjean. Despite Verstappen claim of innocence on his part, the consensus among other drivers as well as the Formula 1 sanctioning body led to a five grid position penalty for the following race in Canada. Four races after Monaco, the Hungarian Grand Prix was the site where Max Verstappen recovered a great deal of spotlight scoring a monumental fourth-place.

For the most part, Toro Rosso's STR10 race car has given the rookie driving pair to show off their abilities. In some Formula 1 events, the Toro Rosso cars has actually appeared better than their Red Bull Racing parent team's machines. Dramatically displayed at the Spanish Grand Prix qualifying, appearances showed up on the time sheet. Regretfully, the STR10 race cars have also retired eight times with vehicle faults contributors on most occasions.

Ingredients for Second-Half of 2015:

Scuderia Toro Rosso actually appears to have a steady package heading into the second-half of the 2015 Formula 1 season. Occasional mechanical and electrical bugs with the STR10 seem to be more of performance challenge than the rookie drivers.